^^ Back again!! Hope this one is better than the last. I'm hoping that while I write these it will jog my mind and get the creative brain cells moving. These should hold everyone over till I can get more chapters of my other stories written and proofread. Enjoy and maybe leave a review? No pressure but would be grateful for opinions!

WARNING: Is not proofread past a certain point! I'll come back later and proofread it but right now I just want to get it posted as a little I'm sorry/Happy Thanksgiving gift!

Sixteen: Criminal

Vampire Knight

{Zero x Yuuki}

"Move, MOVE, everyone get out of the way!" People parted as Yuuki shoved them aside. The vampire got farther away as Yuuki tried to get through the mobs of people. She gripped her Artemis Rod tightly in her hand, her sweaty palms making it hard to hold onto.

The vampire got farther ahead and suddenly made a sharp left turn, running into an ally as dark as midnight.

Yuuki didn't hesitate before following the vampire. Had she been more careful then the warning bells would have rang loud and clear in her head.

Dark alley, big no-no.

The dark shadows lapped at Yuuki's ankles and legs before reaching out and completely obstructing her from the sight of the outsiders.

As she ran she tripped over a trashcan that she hadn't seen and almost face planted into the ground. 'Good going Yuuki, you're going to ruin this just with your clumsiness!'

The pain flared up her hands and wrists as she pushed off the ground. She had managed at the last minute to stop her fall with her hands and knees, with only a couple scratches.

Yuuki stood there for a moment, allowing her eyes to quickly adjust to the darkness and take in the trashcans and grungy walls.

She had to catch that vampire! Not only did he steal a lot of money, but he had been stealing it for a couple weeks now. She knew this was her chance to stop it once and for all, no hesitation could be allowed or else he might get away.

Her feet echoed as she went further into the alleyway, its walls coming closer together and forcing Yuuki to stop when she came to four different directions.

Plus she had to clear the name for Cross Academy's vampires. From the beginning it had been obvious that it was a vampire. The bodyguard that had lain dead on the floor with most of his blood drained had proven that and multiple other people drained also at the other scenes.

But where had he gone? There were four possibilities and only one right way.

Yuuki went completely still and held her breath. Any slight sound from him would tell her which way he had went. She didn't expect him to be as stealthy as other vampires considering he was almost to the point of Level E.

Level E's didn't care about stealth or secrecy. They cared about getting what they wanted as soon as they could, and they wanted blood. Blood was their gold, their diamonds, their most desired want. There was no plan, just find and take for them.

A sudden echo of crashes came from the right passageway and Yuuki sprinted down it towards the noise. Her breath came out in short bursts and her Artemis Rod weighed her hand down, giving her the feeling of safeness.

The alleyway narrowed slightly before taking a sharp left turn. Yuuki, unable to see very far ahead of herself, barely made the turn in her full out sprint. Her right shoulder and wrist throbbed from where she had tried to stop herself and the slightly bleeding cuts on her hands ached in tune with her heartbeat.

Although her eyes weren't as good as a vampire's, Yuuki was able to see the dead end up ahead. The walls started to become farther apart as Yuuki approached the dead end in a jog.

She stopped right in front of it, holding her breath to see if the vampire was anywhere nearby.

Not hearing anything, Yuuki placed her hand on the wall. The bricks were cold and soothed Yuuki's cuts on her hands. Glancing up she decided that the wall was too high for the vampire to jump without the aid of the wall, and the wall didn't have any ledges to use.

It had sounded like he had come down the right alleyway but maybe she had made a mistake? She waited another minute, hoping he would give off some sign as to where he had gone, if he was still in the alleyway.

Not hearing anything Yuuki sighed. 'I can't believe I messed up!' she thought.

She had let down her father, Zero, and Kaname. She had let down the police and the Academy. She had even let down herself.

'I guess I should head back and find Zero. He's going to be so mad at me for chasing the criminal!' Yuuki knew for sure Zero would be mad. He would first lecture her, and then check her over to make sure she was okay. He would see the cuts and lecture her some more before dragging her back to the Academy and cleaning them.

Yuuki yelped as someone shoved her into the wall from behind. Trusting on instinct, Yuuki turned around and ducked, the claws of the vampire barely missing her head and making a horrible scratching noise against the brick wall.

"Not so fast." Yuuki didn't have time to react as he grabbed the front of her uniform and slammed her against the wall.

Pain exploded up her back as the edge of a brick dug into her back. A cry bubbled up her throat as he lifted her feet off the ground and slammed her against the wall again.

The sharp pain grew stronger and Yuuki's back involuntarily arched to escape the pain.

"That's right, offer it to me." He leered at her as one of his hands slid around to her back and made her arch further. Yuuki winced at his leer and suddenly remembered the Artemis Rod in her hand.

"Not a chance!" The Artemis Rod caught the vampire by surprise, smacking him in the chin and then hitting him in the chest. He stumbled backwards with a grunt. Catching his footing, he glared up at Yuuki, his eyes blood red.

Still leaning against the wall, Yuuki felt fear hold her in place. That night flashed before her eyes. The blood thirsty vampire that had tried to kill her on that horrible snowy night and the fear that had immobilized her then that was immobilizing her now.

Kaname had come to save her that horrible day, but he wasn't here in the alleyway to save her. Nor was Zero, who always seemed to come at the right moment. 'I have to fight him myself this time!' Yuuki thought determinedly.

While Yuuki had been lost in her fearful thoughts the vampire slowly advanced. He grinned, clearly noticing the apparent fear on Yuuki's face and her frozen form.

Yuuki snapped out of it just as the vampire grabbed the Artemis Rod. She pulled the Artemis Rod out of his hands before he could get a good hold and stumbled back. He hissed and leapt at her, claws raised.

She leapt out of the way and turned around, her Artemis Rod rising in defense. The vampire was still glaring at her but there was a cruel smirk on his face. He took a step to his left, then another and another.

Yuuki slowly stepped in unison with him, step for step, as he circled her. The Artemis Rod shone between them like a barrier, its silver surface catching the moonlight.

"What's wrong pretty, not offering now?" He leered at her, his hands flexing. He took a couple more steps before he suddenly lunged at her again. Forgetting what way she was facing she stepped backed and gasped as her back connected with the wall with a thud. She raised her Artemis Rod to try and block him, but he grabbed it and threw it behind him.

The clattering noise rang through the alleyway along with Yuuki's shriek as he grabbed onto her neck, his claws pricking at her skin. He deliberately pierced her skin with his pinky claw, his breathing becoming harsh against her skin as the smell wafted up to him.

"You smell delicious, I can't wait to sink my fangs into that neck and suck you dry." Yuuki froze, fear immobilizing her. This was it. 'I have failed,' Yuuki thought.

He leaned closer and Yuuki felt anger bubble up in her at her weakness. She was not weak!

"Let…go!" Yuuki started to struggle, the anger building. She felt another of his claws dig into her neck but she managed to get her own hits in.

Pulling her forward, he slammed her against the wall in an attempt to make her stop. She continued to fight, until after his fourth and hardest slam her hands fell limp as pain racked her body.

Satisfied, his hand slid from her throat and instead grabbed onto her hair. She whimpered as her head was pulled back, stretching her neck in a painful way. His tongue lapped the blood dribbling down her neck and Yuuki felt her stomach roll in disgust.

"Ahh, what do we have here? Someone else had a drink from you? Multiple times from what it looks like. Well my pretty, you must enjoy people drinking your blood then, which I will do gladly."

Yuuki's head was yanked to the side and she felt the vampire lap again at the blood, this time making his way towards the bite marks. His fangs pricked the bite marks.

Click.

The vampire froze, the gun aimed at the back of his head making him smirk.

"Get away from her." The voice was deep and rough with anger and the vampire's smirk vanished. He turned around to find the gun aimed right at his forehead, the cold from the metal seeping into his skin.

"You can't kill me with that, so why don't you go back to wherever you came from and let me get back to what I was doing." The vampire's cruel smirk came back onto his face. His knees bent slight and he lunged.

Yuuki slid down the wall, the bricks creating dirt tracks and rips on the back of her shirt. She stared up at the fight and found her best friend, Zero, standing in front of her.

Protecting her.

"Zero…?" Zero glanced at her for a moment, his eyes turning from anger to worry. She yelled his name again as the vampire lunged at his turned back. Zero turned around just in time to raise his gun and shoot, the bullet grazing the vampire's shoulder.

"Ahahahahaha, so foolish, using a gun that—" The skin started to sizzle and smoke as the vampire howled with pain. Zero raised his gun to the vampire's forehead and pressed the trigger.

The vampire stared at Zero for a moment, shock written all over his face, before he dissolved into smoke.

Zero stared at the spot the vampire had been standing for a moment before he turned around to help Yuuki.

"Are you okay Yuuki?" Zero's worried voice had a rough edge to it. His eyes had a tint of red in them and his breathing was labored.

"I'm fine, I-I thought I could fight him but…" Yuuki's head dropped in shame. 'Once again someone else saved me.'

"Why would you do such a stupid thing like that? You could have gotten hurt, or worse." Zero glared at her, angry that she would put herself in danger like that just to help others.

"I wanted to help, and I had him, but he came out of no where and…" Yuuki broke off, her voice trailing off in shame.

"Don't ever do that again Yuuki." Zero grabbed her arms and hoisted her up. She winced, but didn't make a sound. The pain wasn't that bad, and it could have been worse. Much worse.

Zero suddenly pulled away, his hands held in front of him. Yuuki suddenly noticed the red tinge in his eyes, and his labored breathing.

"Zero…" Yuuki started, but was cut off by him.

"No," he told her firmly as he started to walk down the alleyway. "We need to get you back to the Academy."

"But you need blood Zero, I can see it in your face."

"I don't need it, I'll be fine," he said without looking back at her. He didn't need it, but he wanted it. What he did need was to get Yuuki back to the Academy before more Level E's decided to come out looking for a snack. And those cuts were already looking infected, which needed medical attention soon.

"Fine." Zero knew that Yuuki wouldn't let it go, at least not until he was back to normal and his thirst sated.

"Let's go," Zero said without looking at her. He started down the alleyway quickly, his senses zoned in on Yuuki incase something happened to her.

Yuuki made sure to keep up with his pace, her short legs working twice as hard as his. But this was her own personal punishment for herself, for not being able to defeat the Level E on her own, and for worrying Zero and upsetting him.

Her eyes locked in the back of his head. Why wouldn't he just take what he needed from her? It wouldn't hurt her or take that long. But then she realized that the encounter with the Level E had stirred something in him.

Zero was afraid of becoming a Level E, and after seeing this Level E going after Yuuki, he refused to drink her blood. He was afraid that if he drank her blood like the Level E had wanted to do, then it would mean that he was becoming a Level E.

"Zero, you're not going to become a Level E," Yuuki told him softly to his back. He didn't stop or even slow down.

"I don't know what I'm going to become."

Yes the ending is not exactly how I wanted it to end, but I figured it would be nice to show that Zero isn't a Level E, even though he's afraid he will become one.

Sorry for the no show these last couple of months/weeks. Life just seems to be knocking on my door every two seconds, and it won't go away!

Happy Thanksgiving and hopefully everyone is eating lots of turkey and pumpkin pie! Pumpkin pie is my favorite so if anyone wants to send it in a review then, by all means, go ahead!

Thank you and have a wonderful, sunny rest of the day!